Cosmic
by Ismygreenyourgreentoo
Summary: Link keeps seeing the same man everywhere he goes, and he starts to wonder if it's really a coincidence. Rhett and Link. Good Mythical Morning. Slash fic.


They started to see each other everywhere, and he started to wonder if it was really a coincidence.

The first time was in The Nook, a small but charming coffee house with dark wooden floors and a gas fireplace that made the whole place hot like a bath but no less comforting. Art hung from every wall, and every piece was marked with a price tag, although he doubted anyone would ever feel the impulse to buy any of it. People were crowded in there, stuffed in some amalgamation of a line. The Nook had opened only two days prior, and for the first week every drink was half price. It had piqued his curiosity, so he found himself leaving early for work, to stand in the crowded line.

The man was a few people ahead, and it was impossible not to lock eyes on him. He was easily the tallest person in the room, and his soft golden hair was quaffed another two inches upwards, making him a rather overwhelming figure. He was also handsome, but in an unexpected way. His height did not make him gangly or awkward, but only emphasized the intimidating yet appealing features of his stone-grey eyes and his well trimmed beard.

Link didn't think much of it the first time, as the noisy crowd and hurried staffed took away most of his attention. Once the man had his own drink, he was out the door. Their eyes met for a heartbeat, but Link didn't think about him for the rest of the day.

The second time, he was in a supermarket. Link had little time but an insatiable craving for peanut butter, so he found himself in a Whole Foods on his lunch break. When he saw the man he stopped, and thought carefully about where he had seen him before. This time he was standing, hands in his pockets, eyes lazily combing through bottles of wine. Link watched him do this, admiring the fact that, even alone, the man still managed to stand out. He had a simple yet unique sense of style, long blue jeans and a black T-shirt, which was underneath a pastel pink velvet baseball jacket. He made his pick of wine, a thirty dollar Merlot, and as he walked away from the shelf, their eyes met inadvertently. They both offered a polite smile before looking away, and moving on.

As Link checked out, he looked around at the other cashier stations, but the man had probably left. Later that day he would show up in his thoughts, like the tune of a song he couldn't fully remember.

The third time was in a pool house called Q's, the following Friday. He was with a few work friends, two men and two women who seemed intent on his inclusion in their circle. He liked them all well enough, but they couldn't seem to fall out of the trap of constantly talking about work. He found it boring to engage sometimes, but his extroverted nature could not deny the temptation of camaraderie.

The man caught his attention as soon as he walked in; he was arched down, a look of intense concentration in his eyes, the next split second sinking a striped ball into the pocket. He leapt at this, whooped, and pumped his fist in the air. The action was so over the top that a wide smile involuntarily spread on Link's face.

"You see that guy?" he mumbled to his co-worker, a short humble guy named Greg, as they staked their claim on a table at the far edge of the room.

"What guy?" Greg asked, already analyzing the drink menu. Link pointed subtly. "The guy with the Clippers hat? What about him?"

"Nothing. He's just freakishly tall isn't he?"

"I guess so."

Link frowned, and decided not to point out that he had run into this man a few times this week. He was afraid they would think he was strange for noticing a thing like that.

As the games and the drinks and the night aged, he found himself glancing more and more at the man's table. Part of it was because the man was vocal, in both his victories and his defeats, which was amusing to watch. Eventually he sunk a winning shot, and loudly exclaimed "Eat it!" to his party of drunk friends. It was at this moment that the two met eyes for the third time. There was a flicker there, possibly because he recognized Link, but more likely because he realized how embarrassing his outburst had been through the eyes of a stranger. It was as if they were thinking the exact same thing, because in the same instance, both men burst into laughter.

They shared the moment for only a few seconds later, the tall man red in the face but grinning wildly at having made someone across the room laugh. They looked away, and Link felt himself fighting an urge to look back. It was a fun moment, a human experience between perfect strangers, but he found himself wanting to experience again, right that instant, but he knew the connection was only a blip in time. If the man caught him staring over there again, it may begin to seem weird. For the rest of the night, he made a point to keep his eyes away. That being said, his mind couldn't think of anything else.

The fourth time was even less expected. Link worked as an engineer for IBM, one of the biggest companies in the valley. Occasionally they would host conferences and seminars, inviting smaller firms and larger partners to collaborate and network. Link always liked these, because the only work he had to do was listen to other engineers share their ideas all day, and since he rarely felt like the ideas were any good, he could zone out and spend the day thinking about how he could swing the whole thing into a joke bit. Every month or so a club near his house did an open mic night, and he used it to test his experimental stand-up. These boring conferences provided an unexpected amount of comedic fodder.

Before the seminars began, all of the attendees would gather in a conference room, with his group sitting on the staggered seats on the main stage. His company liked to seem important, so they insisted their entire staff be front and center rather than part of the audience.

His boss was giving the keynote, which was as boring as he would have expected. Instead of listening, he just looked up and down at the audience, making note of who looked engaged and who had glazed over eyes. It was when his gaze wandered over to the section where Black & Veatch were sitting, that the two met eyes once again.

This time they both undoubtedly showed signs of recognition. The other man, wearing a black polo with what Link assumed to be unflattering khakis, stared thoughtfully before tilting his head and slyly waving his hand.

Link didn't return the wave, but he did screw up his mouth and raise one eyebrow, as if to say, _This is a bit weird._ The other man shrugged, and Link returned it before looking back at the speaker.

He tried hard to concentrate on the words, but it took all his will power not to look back into the sea of black polo. At one point the speaker made a joke so lame, it would have earned groans if so many people at the conference didn't want her approval. Usually Link would exchange glances with a co-worker at this, but instead he instinctively turned his head towards the stranger. The second their eyes met they both laughed.

When the seminars began, Link found himself spending the first five minutes of each class looking for the man from Black & Veatch. Each time, he was disappointed, and each seminar he was completely inattentive. He knew each time they had seen each other had been a coincidence, but he also hadn't been able to communicate non-verbally with a stranger so effectively since… well never. Something was cosmic about it. In a strange way, as he looked through the crowd for someone he'd never met, it felt as if he were really looking for an old friend.

Eventually it was time to go, and Link was in a sour mood. He wasn't sure what he expected, but it seemed as though they were not meant to cross paths again that day. He put on a smile as his friends walked out with him to his car, but inside he felt like a deflated balloon. It was not rational, he knew that, but all the same he felt it.

It was when he was driving out of the parking lot, stuck behind a line waiting to turn left, that he finally saw him again. He was standing on the curb with a collection of identically dressed cohorts, leaning against the building waiting for a ride to show up. He stared with all his might until their eyes met again. After a short lingering moment, the tall man winked, and returned back to his conversation.

Link drove away, his heart beating against his ribs and a smile on his face.


End file.
